Stockholm Strong
Terror is one of the most unique emotions that we have as human beings. Most of other emotions are tethered to reality and existence; terror is raised from the unknown. It is an emotion that is based in paranoia, fear, and distrust. Reality is tainted by fantasy, making question what we see in front of our eyes. All of the institutions that govern our daily lives can no longer be trusted. It is this psychological warfare that has haunted the world since the start of the millennia. From public transportation, to brown men in hoodies, an inherent mistrust is building within our society. Each attack only spurs the train further down the track; forcing us to make concessions at every stop.
This belief was upheld by reality, until what I saw here in Stockholm over the past few days. The attack perpetrated happened in one of the most visited and densely trafficked areas in the city. I have spent many days wandering up and down the streets, observing the people, scouting new restaurants to eat at, and seeing others enjoy the wonderful city. When I heard of the attack, I waited at the university library, with other students, thinking the entire city must be empty. So after several hours I headed out into the city, with the public transportation shutdown, I had to walk back to my dorm.
Instead of empty streets I saw people living their lives, muted, but the streets were busy and populated. What the Swedes and Stockholm have shown me these past few days has awed me immensely. After the attack, there was no fear, there was no panic, but a fierce determination to not let the attack define what this city is. As a man who is often mistaken for Middle Eastern, I wondered how the people would see me, and whether I would feel watched as I walked down the street. The city has done anything but give into the fear that the attack is supposed to create. The grief in the city is palpable, but there is no paranoia. That is true victory.
The only way to win the battle against terror is to remain unafraid; when the monsters dare us to sit quietly, that is when we must stand the tallest. This city and its security apparatus is not perfect, and there will be many lessons to learn from this attack, but the citizens of this city deserve credit for not devolving into fear mongering afterwards. It would be easy to paint immigrants as the reason why this attack happened, and use it as a political maneuver to justify refusing refugees. Yet the Prime Minister of Sweden did not fall privy to this bait. He held strong on the beliefs that underline the beliefs of this nation.
I do not agree with all of the ideals of Sweden, but I respect this nation immensely for showing tenacity in the face of adversity. They have chosen unity when it was simple to become divided. By not bowing down to fear, they have truly won this battle against terror.